Brigitte Berman

Brigitte Berman is an Academy Award®-winning producer/director/writer who was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and graduated from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, where she studied English and Film. Subsequently she received her B. Ed. in English and Theatre Arts.

She has worked in the film and television industry for more than twenty years, producing and directing more than one hundred documentaries, both independently and for ten years at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

With her independent production company, Bridge Film Productions Inc., she produced two feature documentaries "ARTIE SHAW: Time Is All You've Got" and 'BIX: "ain't none of them play like him yet"', that have been showcased at many international film festivals. ARTIE SHAW: Time is All You've Got won her the Oscar® for Best Feature Documentary in 1987. Her BIX feature documentary was awarded the prestigious Bronze Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival, as well as an Honorable Mention at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Berman attended The Canadian Film Centre in the prestigious Director's Program and subsequently wrote, directed and produced her first dramatic feature 'The Circle Game' which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as playing other international film festivals.

She has continued to work as a writer, director and producer, making documentaries and dramas to the present day. 'Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel' is her most recent film.

When she attended Hugh Hefner's lavish 80th birthday party celebration at the Playboy Mansion, which highlighted his opulent Playboy lifestyle, she decided to develop a feature documentary about "the other side" of Hugh Hefner, a side that is not widely known. After more than three years of extensive research, shooting interviews throughout the United States, and editing, the final version of the film was completed in January 2010.